This luscious tropical fruit can be surprisingly tricky to cut—unless you have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Perhaps it's because I grew up far, far away from where they grow, but cutting mangoes has intimidated me for years. I've mangled more than a few, resorting in the end to indelicately sucking the meat off of the pit of the fruit —filled with shame, even though I'm totally alone in my apartment. But, like anything else, cutting a mango simply takes practice. And mangoes are totally worth the effort—a perfectly ripe mango is the closest nature comes to candy. With a little determination and this handy guide, you'll be slicing mangoes like a pro in no time.

1. Choose a Ripe Mango

When learning how to cut a mango, it's first important that you select a good one to cut! You should always judge the ripeness of a mango by feel, and not by color. (Even if your fellow grocery store customers give you the side eye for feeling up all of the mangoes.) It's tempting to think that redder, more golden-hued mangoes are more ripe, but the way to tell is by gently squeezing the fruit. When there's a slight give, the mango is ripe. Don't choose a super squishy one!

Sometimes you can also tell a mango is ripe because it will have a really fruity aroma, particularly if you put your nose to the stem end of the fruit.

2. Peel the Mango

Hold the mango in one hand. With the other hand, take a vegetable peeler and gently peel away the skin of the mango vertically, from top to bottom.

The mango can be a bit slippery once it's peeled, so be careful when cutting in the next step. If you have a kitchen glove, it might be nice to wear it on the hand you'll use to hold the mango, for extra grip. Or, simply put a paper towel under your hand while you're gripping the fruit.

The moment that first slab slides off the mango.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova

3. Cut Off the Two Wider, Flat Sides of the Mango

When you're holding the mango vertically in your palm, you'll see that there are two flatter, meatier sides. Use your fingers to feel gently for where the pit ends—this can be a bit of trial and error—then cut the two sides off of the pit and set them aside. When cutting, you'll start at the top near the stem, and make a cut all the way down to the bottom, curving slightly around the hard pit in the middle and letting it guide you.

4. Cut Off the Smaller Remaining Sides of the Mango

Again, slice from the top, where the stem would be, all the way down to the bottom of the fruit, carefully curving around the tougher pit.

5. Slice (or Cube) up your Mango

Now that you've got all of the fruit off of the pit, you can begin slicing it into bites. Depending on whether you're adding the mango to a specific recipe, or enjoying it plain, you'll want to cut it into different shapes.

For mango slices: With the curved side of the mango—the one that had the skin on it—facing upward, slice long vertical slices at your desired thickness.

For mango cubes: Cut the mango pieces into thick slices as directed above, then cut crosswise into cubes.

Now that you've learned how to cut a mango—congrats, by the way!—make one of these delicious recipes: